This article examined the frequency of drunkenness, alcohol problems, and attitudes toward drinking and appropriate drinking for Mexican Americans in Texas and California. Respondents were part of a multistageprobabilitysample of U. S. Hispanics 18 years of age and older. The response ratefor the survey was 72%. Results indicated that Mexican Americans in California report more episodes of drunkenness, moreproblems, and are more accepting of drinking and drunkenness than those in Texas. These results confirmed differences in drinking patterns between Mexican Americans in these two states reported in a previous analysis of the same sample. They also were in agreement with regional differences in alcohol consumption reported in the literature.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Alcocer, A. M.
(1979). Drinking practices and alcohol-related problems of Spanish speaking persons in three California locales. Prepared by Technical Systems Institute for California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs.
2.
Bruun, K.
, Edwards. G., Lumio, M., et al. (1975). Alkohol controlpolicies in public health perspective. Finish Foundation for Alcohol Studies Volume 25.
3.
Caetano, R.
(1984a). Hispanic drinking practices in Northern California. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 6, 345-364.
4.
Caetano, R.
(1984b). Ethnicity and drinking in Northern California: A comparison among whites, blacks and Hispanics. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 19, 31-44.
5.
Caetano, R.
(1987a, July 23-25). Alcohol use among Mexican Americans and in the U.S. population. Presented at the U.S. / Mexico Conference on Alcohol-Related Issues, Los Angeles, CA.
6.
Caetano, R.
(1987b). Acculturation and drinking patterns among U.S. Hispanics. British Journal of Addiction, 82, 788-799.
7.
Caetano, R.
(in press). Drinking patterns and alcohol problems in a national sample of U.S. Hispanics. In Alcohol use among U.S. ethnic minorities(DHHS Publication No. ADM 87-1435). Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
8.
Cahalan, D.
, & Room, R. (1974). Problem drinking among American men. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers Center of Alcohol Studies, Monograph No. 7.
9.
Clark, W.
, & Midanik, L. (1981). Alcohol use and alcohol problems among U.S. adults: Results of the 1979 National survey. In Alcohol consumption and related problems (DHHS Publication No. ADM 82-1190). Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
10.
Doernberg, D., Stinson, F. S., & Williams, G. D. (1986). Apparent per capita alcohol consumption. National, state and regional trends, 1977-1984. CSR, Inc. 1400 Eye Street, N.W., Suite 600, Washington, D.C. 20005.
11.
Gilbert, M. J.
, & Cervantes, R. C. (1986). Patterns and practices of alcohol use among Mexican Americans: A Comprehensive Review. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 8, 1-60.
12.
Hilton, M. E.
(1987, June 8-12). Regional diversity in U.S. drinking practices. Prepared for presentation at the 1987 Annual Meeting of the Alcohol Epidemiology Section, International Council on Alcohol and Addictions, Aix-en-Provence, France.
13.
Holck, S. E.
, Warren, C. W., Smith, J. C., & Rochar, R. W. (1984). Alcohol consumption among Mexican-American and Anglo women: Results of a survey along the U.S.Mexican border. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 45, 149-154.
14.
Johnson, L. V.
, & Maitre, M. (1978). Anomie and alcohol use: Drinking patterns in Mexican American and Anglo neighborhoods. Quarterly Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 39, 894-902.
15.
Maril, R. L.
, & Zavaleta, A. N. (1979). Drinking patterns of low-income MexicanAmerican women. Quarterly Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 40, 480-484.
16.
Paine, H. J.
(1977). Attitudes and patterns of alcohol use among Mexican Americans: Implications for service delivery. Quarterly Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 38, 544-553.
17.
Santos, R.
(1985, August). One approach to oversampling Blacks and Hispanics: The national alcohol survey. Forthcoming in Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Statistical Association, Section on Survey Research Methods, Las Vegas.
18.
Wilkinson, W. V. (1985). Alcohol drinkingpatterns in a South Texas Mexican American community. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, College of Criminal Justice, Sam Houston State University, Texas.
